Monday, January 9, 2017

Give 'Em Hell, Chuckie

Many Democrats were alarmed when Harry Reid stepped down and Senate Minority Leader and handed the office over to Chuck Schumer. They feared that Schumer didn't have the combative spirit of old Give 'Em Hell Harry.

Well, guess what. Reid wasn't always Give 'Em Hell, Harry either. When Democrats first retook the Senate and the House, they started with the common division of labor, the feisty, chomping-at-the-bit House with its grand plans and the more restrained Senate. These were led, respectively by Nancy Pelosi, the liberal crusader, and Harry Reid, the moderate. But a funny thing happened. As the Republicans were endlessly combative, Harry Reid saw little choice but to retaliate in kind. And so he became a notably feisty and combative character.

Now Schumer is in the same position, and he seems to be a quick study. When the Republicans attempted to rush through Trump appointees without adequate vetting he tweeted the letter Republican leader Mitch McConnell sent at the beginning of the Obama Administration, about the importance of adequate vetting. Just crossed out Harry Reid and wrote in Mitch McConnell.